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| Parents' Bill of Rights | |
|---|---|
| Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan | |
| |
| Territorial extent | Saskatchewan |
| Enacted by | Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan |
| Enacted | October 20, 2023 |
| Bill citation | Bill 137 |
| Introduced by | Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill[1] |
| Introduced | October 10, 2023 |
| Status: In force | |
The Education (Parents' Bill of Rights) Amendment Act, 2023, commonly known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, is a 2023 piece of legislation amending the Saskatchewan Education Act. Also known as Bill 137, the legislation was introduced on October 10 during an emergency session of the 29th Saskatchewan Legislature, and it was passed on October 20 after a week of intensive debate in the Legislative Assembly.[2][3] The provincial government, led by Premier Scott Moe, invoked the notwithstanding clause—Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—to pass the legislation and protect it from legal challenges based on Charter Rights.[4]
Bill 137 requires parental notification and consent when students under the age of 16 wish to change their preferred names, nicknames or pronouns that could be related to gender expression while at school. In addition, the bill places restrictions on sexual health education, making provisions for parental consent and prohibiting outside party involvement in the teaching of sexual health education. In addition it requires teachers to not answer potentially controversial questions asked by students and to instead advise them to speak to their family.[5] The bill, and the process used to pass it, drew criticism from legal and human rights experts.[6] It also proved divisive among residents of the province, drawing large crowds at protests since the policies were first proposed in the summer of 2023.[7][8] The bill was cited as an example of the encroachment of American "culture wars" into Canadian politics.[9][10]
- ^ ""Parents' Bill of Rights" Introduced in Legislature". Government of Saskatchewan. 2023-10-12. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Hunter, Adam (2023-10-20). "Sask. government passes Parents' Bill of Rights". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Salloum, Alec (2023-10-20). "Saskatchewan passes school pronoun bill using notwithstanding clause". Regina Leader-Post. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Schick, Lisa (2023-10-10). "Legislature recalled early for pronoun law, rally expected". CKOM. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:9was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Warick, Jason (2023-10-19). "Law professors, human rights commissioner tell Sask. government to shelve Parents' Bill of Rights". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Reynoldson, Trillian (2023-09-02). "Hundreds rally in Regina against new Saskatchewan pronoun policy". Regina Leader-Post. Archived from the original on 2023-09-03. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Quon, Alexander; Warick, Jason (2023-10-10). "Hundreds rally at Sask. legislature as debate on school pronoun policy begins". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ "The culture wars have come to Canada". The Economist. 2023-10-12. Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Quigley, Tim; Kossick, Don (2023-12-20). "Parents' rights bill will exacerbate ills in Saskatchewan". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Archived from the original on 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2023-12-20.